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Sister Augusta
The Rose At War
An Adepta Sororitas Anthology
Follow a Sister Superior around the galaxy as she leads her troops against all the horrors the galaxy has to offer.
READ IT BECAUSE
Danie Ware explores the complexity and depth of the Sisters of Battle like few others, and this series gives the reader an interesting perspective on the long-term career of an average Sororitas soldier.
DESCRIPTION
This series of eight stories relates the tale of Sister Superior Augusta Santorus of the Order of the Bloody Rose as she battles against the horrors of the galaxy. She’ll encounter heretics, xenos, and everything in between. This collection includes five short stories and three novellas, one of which is available for the first time in this book.
CONTENTS
– Forsaken
– The Crystal Cathedral
– Mercy
– The Bloodied Rose
– Wreck and Ruin
– The Rose in Anger
– Da Big Mouf
– The Sisters of Death
Follow a Sister Superior around the galaxy as she leads her troops against all the horrors the galaxy has to offer.
READ IT BECAUSE
Danie Ware explores the complexity and depth of the Sisters of Battle like few others, and this series gives the reader an interesting perspective on the long-term career of an average Sororitas soldier.
DESCRIPTION
This series of eight stories relates the tale of Sister Superior Augusta Santorus of the Order of the Bloody Rose as she battles against the horrors of the galaxy. She’ll encounter heretics, xenos, and everything in between. This collection includes five short stories and three novellas, one of which is available for the first time in this book.
CONTENTS
– Forsaken
– The Crystal Cathedral
– Mercy
– The Bloodied Rose
– Wreck and Ruin
– The Rose in Anger
– Da Big Mouf
– The Sisters of Death
483 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2022
65 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Danie Ware
59 books206 followersAuthor of the Ecko trilogy (CyberPunk/Fantasy mashup) and Children of Artifice (queer science fantasy). Writer of Sisters of Battle (and other things) for WarHammer 40k, Judge Anderson for Rebellion, Twilight Imperium for Aconyte Books, and numerous short stories.
Reader, writer, crusader geek, re-enactor (retired) and role-player. After seventeen years conjuring PR, events and social media for Forbidden Planet (London) Ltd, you can now find me in the Manga/GNs at Waterstones Piccadilly.
Follow me on most Social Media channels as @Danacea
Reader, writer, crusader geek, re-enactor (retired) and role-player. After seventeen years conjuring PR, events and social media for Forbidden Planet (London) Ltd, you can now find me in the Manga/GNs at Waterstones Piccadilly.
Follow me on most Social Media channels as @Danacea
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 3, 2023
I must admit, after feeling underwhelmed and let down by Danie Ware's The Triumph of Saint Katherine, I hadn't expected expected to like The Rose at War much. So I'm both surprised and happy to find that this book was everything I was looking for in an Adepta Sorotias story.
Principally a collection of short stories and novellas bound together into a comprehensive anthology, The Rose at War focuses on the trials and tribulations of just one Sister Superior, Augusta Santorus, and in doing so weaves its short format together to create a complete picture of her character, while also allowing side plots to develop between the separate tales.
I really appreciated this approach, as I find that a lot of combat orientated 40K writing falters the longer it drags on, as there is only so many ways you can creatively describe flaring bolters and exploding flesh. By using only as many pages as the stories needed, The Rose at War largely avoids this issue, and keeps its conflicts feeling fresh. It is a boon that is only aided by Danie Ware's much improved depiction of the Sisters of Battle, and the renewed appreciation for the faith based elements that define them.
There was still some small issues I had with the pacing (I think at least 10 pages could have been shaved off the novellas easily), and some issues with repeated phrases such as "like a promise" that I remember appearing three times in the span of...2 chapters, which at that point, is really on the editing team at the Black Library to catch. But overall I enjoyed myself reading this, and while I'm still not entirely convinced I would put it in front of someone who wasn't already invested in the wider Warhammer 40k franchise, I do believe it was worthwhile read.
Principally a collection of short stories and novellas bound together into a comprehensive anthology, The Rose at War focuses on the trials and tribulations of just one Sister Superior, Augusta Santorus, and in doing so weaves its short format together to create a complete picture of her character, while also allowing side plots to develop between the separate tales.
I really appreciated this approach, as I find that a lot of combat orientated 40K writing falters the longer it drags on, as there is only so many ways you can creatively describe flaring bolters and exploding flesh. By using only as many pages as the stories needed, The Rose at War largely avoids this issue, and keeps its conflicts feeling fresh. It is a boon that is only aided by Danie Ware's much improved depiction of the Sisters of Battle, and the renewed appreciation for the faith based elements that define them.
There was still some small issues I had with the pacing (I think at least 10 pages could have been shaved off the novellas easily), and some issues with repeated phrases such as "like a promise" that I remember appearing three times in the span of...2 chapters, which at that point, is really on the editing team at the Black Library to catch. But overall I enjoyed myself reading this, and while I'm still not entirely convinced I would put it in front of someone who wasn't already invested in the wider Warhammer 40k franchise, I do believe it was worthwhile read.
November 1, 2023
One of the better Sisters of Battle books, though the disjointed nature of being an anthology collection connected by strand of underlying narrative, can make it feel a bit messy.
The book follows Sister Superior Augusta Santorus of the Order of the Bloody Rose and her squad of battle sisters, as they hack, shoot and burn through their way across many planets of the Imperium.
The book doesn't go too deep too into our heroines motivations or backgrounds and admittedly many of them were left as little more than caricatures, the fiery redhead, the shy booksmart, the cool lancer, etc. Yet I found them endrearing and I learned to like their antics.
Overall, I found myself being entertained at almost every turn. This is a honest pulpy action book about zealous, hardcore battle nuns with massive guns who sing war hymns at every battle. It is not a subtle subject and should be rated as such. But I for one enjoyed it!
The book follows Sister Superior Augusta Santorus of the Order of the Bloody Rose and her squad of battle sisters, as they hack, shoot and burn through their way across many planets of the Imperium.
The book doesn't go too deep too into our heroines motivations or backgrounds and admittedly many of them were left as little more than caricatures, the fiery redhead, the shy booksmart, the cool lancer, etc. Yet I found them endrearing and I learned to like their antics.
Overall, I found myself being entertained at almost every turn. This is a honest pulpy action book about zealous, hardcore battle nuns with massive guns who sing war hymns at every battle. It is not a subtle subject and should be rated as such. But I for one enjoyed it!
January 4, 2023
This is more a collection of small stories, and maybe I’m an idiot for not realizing this before I began, but as they are all about the same characters it works out well.
It’s a great BlackLibrary novel with great characters and interesting stories. It’s more the “kill team” side or things than the 40K sized battles, but this works to the books advantage and I think the author does a good job of taking us on adventures while also showcasing the Sisters of Battle in various situations.
I hope to meet this squad again, and maybe see a little more artistically freedom and a little less commercial for plastic dolls in the future, but this is a really good Warhammer40K story for everyone who is interested in the universe.
I listened to the audio book and Emma Gregory does an amazing job voicing these characters.
It’s a great BlackLibrary novel with great characters and interesting stories. It’s more the “kill team” side or things than the 40K sized battles, but this works to the books advantage and I think the author does a good job of taking us on adventures while also showcasing the Sisters of Battle in various situations.
I hope to meet this squad again, and maybe see a little more artistically freedom and a little less commercial for plastic dolls in the future, but this is a really good Warhammer40K story for everyone who is interested in the universe.
I listened to the audio book and Emma Gregory does an amazing job voicing these characters.
April 26, 2023
It took me quite a while to get through this one. I think the writer did a fine enough job, but this book really struggled to grip me early on hence I kept putting it down and pursuing other titles. The middle sections, composed primarily of the novellas, is interesting at times and generally have fun conclusions, but then you are whisked to the start of another and waiting to be drawn back in. Format doesn't necessarily lend itself to deep characterizations, and outside Augusta (who gets a little) most of the Sisters can be defined by what they carry and a single character trait. Last, and most nitpicking, is the collection is called "The Rose At War" yet there is only one actual instance of a battle in here, the rest being skirmish levels fights at most. If you're a fan of the Sisters you might find it more enjoyable, but I personally preferred James Swallow's Sisters Of Battle omnibus for a multitude of reasons.
July 9, 2023
It's a nice collection of stories about the Sisters of Battle, which fans of the 40k setting might enjoy. I especially like how the stories focuses on the sister characters, and come with some twists and secrets. The battle scenes are ok, but by now I have tired of 40k battle scenes a bit. So kudos to Danie Ware to actually skip them when they serve no narrative purpose. Overall the book was entertaining to read, but for me it was no page turner and I had no trouble putting it down in between.
As for the audio by Emma Gregory, the reading is very crisp and captures the mood of the characters and their chants nicely. A big plus.
As for the audio by Emma Gregory, the reading is very crisp and captures the mood of the characters and their chants nicely. A big plus.
September 7, 2023
New favorite 40k book! I already have the next Sister Augusta book on pre-order for when it releases this week. And this anthology of Sister Superior Augusta and her squad being awesome is exactly what I needed after today's balance dataslate update from GW, which did basically nothing to make Sororitas a better army on the tabletop, ha. I'll just have to settle for victories on the page for awhile.
December 11, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novellas, novels and short stories. I am eager to continue reading the sororita’s stories in the future.
April 26, 2023
Quite boring.
July 12, 2024
Sister of battle do battles ...
November 23, 2024
A fun and enjoyable Warhammer collection, I think I prefer the smaller scale stuff in this as opposed to the bigger battles that are explored in the final novella but it was good time!
February 11, 2026
Review to follow -- the stories were good, but Emma Gregory's narration was excellent!
July 4, 2024
The most boring BORING stories I've ever heard in my entire life in one of the most interesting settings ever written. This makes me not want to read more Sisters books.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews